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Credits

• Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
• Artist: Mike Deodato, Jr.

Quick Summary

In Genosha, Magneto is writing about the loss of his mutant powers when the Collective arrives in what Iron Man refers to as “a massive energy transference.” The Collective approaches Magneto and begins transferring his energies into him, stating that Magneto “is the only one who can avenge” the former mutants who lost their power on M Day. After some difficulty understanding what is happening and who is addressing him, Magneto realizes that the voice speaking to him from the Collective belongs to Xorn, who is now a part of it. Magneto appears to become repowered, and rises over the rubble dressed in his costume as the Avengers look on in distress.

The Collective raises an army of reanimated corpses, which attack the Avengers. While the Sentry confronts Magneto, he finds ‘Michael,’ the Collective’s human host, standing confused and naked nearby. Meanwhile, Agent Hill of SHIELD receives an order from the President of the United States to destroy Genosha by bombing, regardless of the presence of the Avengers. Agent Hill tells the President that SHIELD already has “another plan in motion.”

In Genosha, the Avengers order Agent Daisy Hill into action against Magneto; her powers will “start a pinpoint earthquake tremor in his chest,” and Magneto’s heart “will explode.” Magneto, who is fighting the Sentry, asks the Sentry to kill him. Agent Hill uses her power against Magneto as Ms. Marvel and Iron Man stand by to deal with the energy they expect to be released upon his death. Iron Man contains the energy as Magneto falls to the ground, which he and the Sentry then carry into the sun. Meanwhile, Michael, now in human form again, remembers little of what has occurred, but apparently retains some of the mutant energy. The SHIELD helicopter carrying away the wounded but still living Magneto explodes in the air. Agent Hill is given Magneto’s manuscript.

Commentary

New Avengers # 20 tries for some old school Marvel exuberance, and creates quite an unlikable mess in the process. Dragging back in the entire ‘Xorneto’ and House of M farragos might have seemed like a good idea, but ‘the Collective Part 4’ only further muddies some already very miasmic waters. By the end of the issue, little is clear or any clearer.

Did the energy Magneto received from the Collective briefly return his magnetic powers, or perhaps give him others? If so, did they help him to survive? Where and when did he become familiar enough with Xorn to recognize Xorn’s voice and powers? How and why did the influx of mutant power provide Magneto with his costume and helmet? Why is the Vision missing from every panel until the middle of the story, when he suddenly manifests in battle against the reanimated corpses? Why would the Sentry agree to throw the mutant energies into the sun, where he has just disposed of his arch-foe the Void (and why would Bendis choose such a redundant course of action?)? How did Captain America foresee that Agent Daisy Hill would be needed on this operation, and why did he choose her, when other heroes, including some of those active on the team, could have struck Magneto down from a distance just as effectively?

There are so many lapses of logic in the story that it’s almost impossible to take it even slightly seriously. Raising the corpses of the mutants who were killed some time ago by the Sentinels at the behest of Cassandra Nova doesn’t add anything to the issue either, since the Avengers and other Marvel heroes have battled so many armies of reanimated corpses over the decades that the idea of having them do so again merely represents no idea at all. As in almost every New Avengers issue thus far, one or two characters—usually Iron Man and Captain America--are highlighted while the rest of the Avengers team follows them around listlessly.

Bendis seems to think that if he continues to address and readdress House of M, he’s somehow going to be able to make something creatively valid and historically viable of that tepid, unimaginative, and hollow miniseries. Since Marvel was actually able to make very little of M Day and the other events that followed House of M, everyone involved should have learned by now that moving past House of M and on to other things would have been the wisest course of action possible. If a million mutants were boring, a million depowered mutants are even far more so. It doesn’t take even a high school graduate to realize that.

Whatever grand scheme or schemes Bendis has up his sleeve concerning the Scarlet Witch, Magneto, Spider Woman, and SHIELD, he’s executing them poorly and without any genuine drama or suspense. Though his model for such long-range plots is probably Chris Claremont’s work on the Uncanny X-Men in the 80s, Bendis’ New Avengers work thus far feels both murky and mechanical, both endlessly protracted and yet recklessly executed.

Worst of all, even those readers with a thorough knowledge of Morrison’s New X-Men run and its aftermath will probably be left scratching their heads at the shoddy craftsmanship and lack of clear, rational resolution provided here.